December 18, 2025 (United States) – BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has announced a strategic collaboration with the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health (I3H) at the University of Pennsylvania to advance research in deep human immune profiling and support the development of immunotherapy treatments through high-parameter flow cytometry.
The collaboration will focus on developing and validating a high-parameter flow cytometry panel capable of capturing functional pathways in whole blood, including phosphorylation markers, to gain deeper insight into cellular responses to disease and therapy. The project is expected to support a planned 1,000-patient immune profiling study in partnership with the Penn Colton Center for Autoimmunity, slated to begin in the summer of 2026.
To enable this work, the collaboration will leverage BD’s FACSDiscover™ A8 Cell Analyzer, BD Rhapsody™ System, reagents, software, and spectral data analytics, with BD providing instrumentation and technical expertise and Penn’s I3H team serving as the scientific and clinical lead. The team also plans to publish results in a peer-reviewed manuscript to contribute to broader scientific understanding.
University of Pennsylvania immunology researchers say this partnership showcases the value of combining academic and industry expertise to push the boundaries of immune cell analysis and enhance the discovery of novel therapeutic targets. BD leaders add that advancing single-cell analysis capabilities can accelerate translational science and deepen understanding of how immune cells respond to disease and treatment.
Key Highlights
- BD collaborates with the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Immunology and Immune Health to advance immunotherapy research using flow cytometry
- The collaboration focuses on developing a high-parameter panel to measure key cellular characteristics, including phosphorylation markers
- A planned 1,000-patient immune profiling study is expected to begin in summer 2026
- BD instrumentation, software, reagents, and data analytics will support the research initiative
- The team plans to publish study results in peer-reviewed scientific literature
